More Ideas More Reviews

The first film I would like to review is a film called "An American Crime". It tells the true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.

   

 The reason why I chose to watch it is because when it comes to true stories, they generally made for more compelling films and the subject matter in this film drives it home. The idea of being captured and locked away against your will to me is an interesting point for a film. It creates empathy with the viewer straight away so they are engaged. You also fear for the character thus not knowing what will happen and I enjoy that type of story telling. 

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The second film I would like to review is a movie adaptation of Stephen Kings 'Misery' which has the same title. After watching 'An American Crime' I thought what a better thing to watch then one of the best kidnap movies ever. Few days after being rescued and sheltered from a car crash caused by a blizzard by a nurse who claims to be his number one fan, a well-known author begins suspecting the mental health of his saviour. 

 The film itself uses the perfect angles to portray dominance and fear. The interaction between characters is compelling and we grow to like Anne at the start of the film. Her arc changes dramatically and shows brilliant writing. Again this ties into someone held against their will which I think might be an interesting film to make.

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scription> The third thing I would like to review is an interactive website called the universal within. The site lets you pick and chose answers after having you certain questions. These answer you give then show a corresponding video related to your answer.

http://universewithin.nfb.ca/desktop.html

After messing around on the site, I came across a very interesting video. The question was how


would you monitor you? The answer I picked was mother. It the brought me into a video about a woman who has Skype set up in her elderly mothers house to keep an eye on her. A really clever idea of surveillance but what she said was interesting. She felt is was somewhat morally wrong having the ability to watch her mother without her knowing. I found this a very interesting situation as it is a way to care for the mother, but is it wrong?

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The next piece of media I looked into was the 2010 video game 'Heavy Rain'. 

As a child goes missing, his father tirelessly works to rescue him, while a journalist, an FBI agent, and a private detective try to identify his kidnapper known only as the "Origami Killer". The reason why I chose this is because of its style. The film noir styles gives the game a grittiness and adds to the story.

During the game also, the father of the missing child, Ethan Mars, goes through some harrowing ordeals to try find his son. Opting to save himself over another to progress and find clues of his sons whereabouts. This is what I love about this game. It gives you the choice of play how you want, but immerses you with its character. If I could do something anywhere close to that for my project I would be happy.

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The next film I'd like to talk about is the 2010 Oscar winning short called 'The Crush'. One reason why I wanted to watch it is because it was an Irish film. We have a way of creating great film with humour, tension and dark elements all wrapped up in one and this does it very well.

One thing I disliked like about it however is the dialogue. Although it won the Oscar that year for Best Short, I would still review it more then others considering it is Irish. I felt the dialogue at times felt unnatural and some of the acting was just above par. However the climax and the tension building was done very well and it did well to get the nerves going.

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The next thing I wanted to look at was a different medium altogether, music, music videos and album covers. We see them all the time and they have to stand out. Why? So they catch our eye and make us interested. I think that concept is interesting especially for video making.

The following are some album covers that really stood out and have a vibe I'd like to deliver for my film.

I find some of those pictures I chose to have quite a wow factor to them. And I think that is something I want to have in my shots for the film. Something someone could look at and think wow that's beautiful or wow that's compelling.

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The next film I would like to discuss is one that not many have heard of and it's called 'Stonehearst Asylum'. A recent medical school grad who takes a position at a mental institution soon finds himself taken with one of his colleagues -- though he has no initial idea of a recent, horrifying staffing change. 

A big reason why I wanted to talk about this is this idea of experiments that went on at that time in these asylum. These awful things people did for science may have helped develop modern medicine, but was it wrong? I really like that idea of doing these things that may be wrong but better for the greater good and I think is something I can look at for my film.

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The next film I'd like to discuss isn't an award winner or anything like that. It's a short film called inSANE that I came across on Youtube that has a very strong message at the end.

The film is about a young girl in an insane asylum going through her day to day story. At the end we discover that was wasn't always insane, 'They Made Her Insane'. Personally that is such a strong message to deliver and I find it fascinating. This happened years ago in asylums where scientists performed experiments on the sick for medical research and a lot of the times caused the patient to become insane. Again morally wrong but was it worth it? It's a fascinating subject and is an area I might touch on for my film.

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The next short film I should like to talk about is called 'Black Coffee' which was selected for the "Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner'. It tells the story of a girl who's routine remains the same everyday as she watches people in the local coffee shop. She compares her life to a bland cup of coffee and talking about peoples own story.

I'll be honest I didn't really get it at the start. But after staying with I'm glad I finished it. It was different. I found out that the V/O is actually a poem and it's amazing what you can do with visuals once the narrative is strong. It was really nicely put together and shows that you can do what a lot with a story with nice monologues and composition.

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The next thing I would like to bring up is the television show "American Horror Story Asylum' which is the second season of the show. Again it brings up the topic of insanity as it shows the nuns and doctors performing medicine that may have gone under the radar in terms of its legality or ethics.

Another reason why I wanted to talk about it and 'American Horror Story' in general is because it's very stylistic. It goes against the grain in subject matter and with its story telling, particularly its camera angles. It uses unusual shots which are interesting to look at and again something I will look into for my project.

http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/american-horror-story-cinematographer-michael-goi-interview.html

Here is just an example of one very interesting shot.

http://video.vulture.com/video/American-Horror-Story-360-Degre

Reviews

The first thing I would like to review is episodic interactive drama video game called Life Is Strange. Life Is Strange follows the story of Max Caulfield, a photography student who discovers that she has the ability to alter time, thus giving her an option to live through situations in life twice with different outcomes ie the butterfly effect. For a long time I've always wanted to make a film that revolved around interactivity and choice, and after seeing this game, I felt the way the story was delivered could be replicated in style and engagement with the viewer . It's a nice change watching a film and having control of its destiny, the outcome of the film will be your ending as you chose that path and for me that makes the viewing of an interactive film a lot more personal. The game itself is very stylised and has a great sound track. The cut scenes are shot like a movie so it's as if you're watching one long movie. A lot of the time you immerse yourself in the atmosphere of your surroundings, even though a lot might not be happening. The sleepiness of Arcadia Bay mirrors Max's personality and as the story progresses and things get weirder in Arcadia Bay, so does Max's life. However one thing I think lets this game down somewhat is the dialogue. There are some really lovely tender moments in it and some dramatic elements that make your heart drop, but general chit chat between characters can come off as not real or genuine, which takes you out of the game slightly. They make up for it though with the music, visual style, and the wow moments when something major happens in one of the episodes. It is a throughly entertaining game and has certainly helped me get my creative juices following for my project.

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The second thing I would like to review is another interactive episodic video game called "The Walking Dead" created by Telltale Games. The game follows the story of Clementine, a young girl and a older man named Lee. Lee finds Clementine after a zombie breakout and their relationship grows throughout  the game. Relationships grow and break as new characters are introduced and your interaction alters the story and the relationships between characters in the game. What I love about this game and how it relates to my project again is the use of interactivity through the game but also how the story arcs and how smooth it runs. It is written so well that we immediately relate to the characters and we care about their well being. For me this is a problem a lot of people find hard when it comes to short film making. You have a small gap to make the audience care about the characters you create so finding the best ways to make them care is very important and "The Walking Dead" game does this brilliantly. The games decisions the game gives are heart breaking because the characters are so rich and have so much depth. There is also a morale element that comes into play when the game is played and at times you decide if someone dies to save the group or you risk yourself to save them. I want to explore the theme of morality in my film and I think this is a perfect project to study as to how the writers go about making you care but also make you question your own morality. It makes you wonder if I was in that situation what would I do, which is what I would like to achieve that for my film.

The third thing I would like to look at is the 1957 Sidney Lumet film 12 Angry Men. I have many reasons for picking this to review, but the main reason why is due to its story telling. 12 men in a room talking. Doesn't sound like much of a pitch at all, but the way the characters interactive and deliver their performances is breathtaking. After watching it i immediately thought that would make a great play, and having seen the play this year I wasn't wrong. It shows so much to film making that you don't need green screen all over the place, or elaborate scenery or shoot outs. If the story is good enough and the actors deliver, there is no reason why you can't create something beautiful. Also the use of cinematography in it breathtaking. If you stopped the film at any moment, the frame it stopped on could be a photo. The use of depth and choreography brings a drama through and cinematographer Boris Kauffman mentioned during production that he started with wide lens and but increased the lenses as the film went on so when the film was near its end everyone had a close up that created a 'nearly palpable claustrophobia'. It is so beautifully composed and is a film all film makers should watch to see how things can and should be framed, and how the camera brings just as much drama as the dialogue and actors bring. That is one thing I feel lets my film making down, so by me reviewing and analysing these type of films will hopefully improve my ability to bring even more drama to my pieces by using cinematography as a tool to build tension and suspense. If you are going to learn, you might as well learn from the best.  

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The fourth piece I would like to discuss and review is the Oscar winning short film "Six Shooter" which was directed and written by Martin McDonagh. Made in 2004, "Six Shooter" tells the story of Donnelly, a middle aged man who just finds out his wife has died. After airing his grievances, he meets a chain smoking kid on a train to Dublin. As the train heads towards Dublin, Donnelly finds out the kid isn't who he thinks he is. The reason why I love this as a short film is because the characters are real. We laugh at the kids jokes and we feel for Donnelly. They draw emotion from the viewer and as I said earlier, having the ability to make the viewer care in a short space of time is very important. It is also quite doable as a film. What I mean by that is while you watch it as a film maker you think, "Yeah I could do that", I love that about all McDonaghs film, In Bruges for example is about two hitman in Bruges. Very simple and doable idea which brings me confidence as a film maker. The way McDonagh writes his dialogue, and the way he gets laughter out of dark elements is throughly entertaining to me and is something I would like to bring into my film idea. A lot of his work comes from real dark elements in human life, but manages to makes us laugh in the process. I can relate to that as my work tends to have a dark spine, but on this project I want to continue with what I'm good at but also add that humorous element to my film. Trying to find the right balance with that is quite difficult but I think I would have the ability to create something simple, nice to look at, and an interesting watch to the viewer.

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The final piece of media I will review another interactive drama game named "Until Dawn". It is a horror game that is a PS4 exclusive and it came out in 2015. The story follows a group of teens that go camping in a log cabin in the woods. During their time in the cabin, a murder hunts the teens while paranormal elements start coming into play. Although the story is quite cliche, the game mechanics and decision making in the game hang quite heavily on the them of morality. For example, there are several points in the game where you have to make decisions which rely heavily on your morals, and the characters morals. You can decide whether you risk your own life to save another character, or run the other direction and sacrifice that character to save your life. For me, this is a really interesting concept when it comes to story telling. We can all relate to morality and we can picture ourselves being in that situation. Would we run? Would we risk our own life to save another? It may be quite easy to answer that but the way the story is delivered and the way the characters characteristics are shown through the story make these decisions quite difficult because we grow to like some characters and hate others. One art of good storying telling is making the viewer care. If the viewer doesn't care, why should they bother what happens to the characters. Why do we care whether Cinderella goes to the ball? We sympathise with her, we want her to beat the odds and find the one she loves. That is good story telling and is something I want to deliver when creating my FYP. Delivering a good story with compelling characters makes the viewer engaged from the start and makes them care about you characters fate.

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IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS

1. A film idea with interactive elements.
2. A documentary about my family tree and the past.
3. A documentary but chemicals in water.
4. A film idea about teenage angst with interactive elements.
5. A documentary about alcoholism with teenagers.
6. A film idea about invasion of privacy.
7. A fIlm idea about caring for those less fortunate then us.
8. A film about revenge.
9. A film with alternate endings.
10. A documentary about marriage equality after the referendum.
11. A film about a major incident in Ireland.
12. A film about a guy meeting new room mates with interactive elements and bios.
13. A documentary about the Special Olympics.
14. A documentary about NPAS
15. A film about a cult leader
16. A film about an exchange student with interactive elements.
17. A film about a gun man holding up Dublin Bus.
18. A murder mystery film about guys on their 6th  year holiday.
19. A film about a disabled man who can't read.
20. A film based around the Irish Civil War.

The first idea which I really like is the idea with the interactive elements, but also adding the alternate endings to that. Many times we watch films and think 'ah I wonder what happened to him', or 'I wonder what would have happened if'. Giving the view a choice to crave the films path is quite exciting and groundbreaking. Although I am unsure about how to implement that choice mechanism, I think if done well could lead to an interesting project.

The second idea which I like is the documentary about alcoholism with teenagers. Having just come back from America it amazes me the cultural difference we have when it comes to drinking. The Irish are known around the world as drinkers and having that stigma comes from a very young age and highlighting  is important and I think could be interesting.

The final idea which I really like is the major incident in Ireland. I read awhile ago that Seth MacFarlene the creator of Family Guy was meant to be on one of the planes that hit The World Trade Centre, but he missed it because he over slept. That to me is quite shocking and puts it into perspective that you never know what life may throw at you. Having a film like that I think could be very impactful and eye opening.

Future Employment

As I mentioned in my last post I have such a passion for video that I can't see myself working in any other area when I graduate. However, I still have a small dilemma in the fact that I am still unsure yet of what area specifically I would like to work in. Having had a film nominated for the Fingal Film Festival really gave me a boost to say that I can do this and it is possible, but in the back of my mind is was a small hindrance. I worked solely alone on that film when it came to camera, directing, editing etc. So I myself am yet to realise which area I excel in most, although the fact it was nominated alone stands to me and I am proud of that.

I have had different individuals praise my work and that for me is the most satisfying thing. Having spoken to lecturers from ITB as well as other colleges, they all feel I should carrying on and look for a profession in video and have suggested continuing with education and pursuing a Masters Degree in film. To me that couldn't be anymore of a push to say go get where you want to be.

Being creative is such a wonderful thing and I think being able to tap into different areas over the course is great. One thing I did find myself quite good at was marketing. There is no such thing as a bad idea as it can be altered somewhat and I love that about marketing. You can think of some of the most outrageous ideas possible and it won't be shot down as it could be used somewhere. Having that creative license to get creative and not having and shackles on is quite refreshing and it also gets broad in the sense that there is video involved as well as graphics and visuals.

I have spent time as well looking out for the jobs in the industry for media graduates and a lot of those positions are for marketing jobs and social media jobs. I myself find this a bit disheartening as there isn't as many video jobs out there as I would like. It is a tough industry to break into but with the portfolio I have and the work ethic I carry I feel I can get where I want to be.]

My Self Analysis

I always knew myself as being a very creative person, but it wasn't until later in life what I found a passion for. That passion was video/film making. As time has gone on in my time in ITB I have found that although my grades have been consistently high, my grades for the video modules have always been top of my priority.

I find as well that I am a good organiser when it comes to planning work out creatively so that benefits me hugely when it comes to video and pre production. Also developing a keen eye for detail and style has expanded my mind creativity. Since finding that passion, it has pushed me and continues to push me hard to be involved in video production for my future career.

Having completed a film course in college prior to my ITB, I know that my goal and my drive for the future is to create and develop ideas of my creation and others using the medium of video. However one area I know I lack confidence in is the area of coding. Although I hope to make a film for my FYP, I would like to try something different with this project. I am quite into artsy type film and I try incorporate that into each project I create. If I were improve my ability to code, I would be able to add another dimension to my films and give the viewer and the user a chance to partake in the movie or video. For to long people have had to deal the hand they're giving with media, but involving interactivity with the media especially video excites me as it is rarely seen. To me it would add some spice to a project as it is something that hopefully not many have seen before, but also something that gets the viewer involved.

So it begins!!

Today was the first day of my final year in ITB and the FYP was the topic of interest. I can't wait to start getting creative with it and to start generating some fun ideas that no doubt will change of the course of the year.